After a painful divorce, Maya Landry is in desperate need of a fresh start, which she finds deep in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. Maya’s relieved when she’s hired as a summer keeper of billionaire-owned ski lodges left empty after snow season ends, and her new life of peace and isolation is going exactly as hoped . . . until she stumbles across a dead body on the living room floor of one of the lodges. There’s no cell service on the resort, and by the time she’s able to find a signal and call the police, the body is gone. In fact, there’s no evidence a body was ever there at all.
The police think Maya is unstable, and she’s not convinced they are wrong. But later that night, a stranger walks up to her and tells her that someone knows she was up on the mountain that day, someone willing to kill to keep their secrets. She’s not sure whether to believe him . . . until the killers come for her in the dead of night. Maya narrowly escapes, only to find that same mysterious man waiting to rush her away. But can she trust him? Can she trust anyone?
Only one thing is certain: The people who committed the murder are coming for her. Maya is the only person alive who might reveal what happened up on the mountain. And they want her gone.
Dubbed ‘The new queen of spy fiction’ by The Guardian, ‘The real thing’ by the Washington Post and ‘A worthy heir to the James Bond mantle’ by James Patterson and shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger, Ava Glass is the UK’s leading female spy fiction writer and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
The Hiding Season follows Ava Glass’ successful Emma Makepeace series, which included The Chase, The Trap, and her critically acclaimed 2023 thriller The Traitor, which wasa Grazia Book of the Month, a Washington Post Book of the Year, a Cosmopolitan Book of the Year and a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. Film rights to The Chase and The Traitor serieshave been acquired.
Ava Glass’ spy novels are based on first-hand experience working with spies for the British government alongside several years working as an investigative journalist and crime reporter in America. One of vanishingly few female authors writing spy fiction, Ava Glass is breaking down the door to the most male-dominated genre in fiction.
Ava Glass is an experienced broadcaster and a go-to talking head when something’s going on in the world of spies, and frequently appears on Sky News, BBC News and BBC Radio 4. She has also co-presented a true crime documentary TV series for Channel 4 and is a regular guest expert on current affairs podcasts.
My thoughts: This was a bit different from the other Ava Glass books which are about professional spies, instead the protagonist here is Maya Landry, whose job cleaning the holiday homes of very wealthy people in a private ski resort brings her into the orbit of a terrifying criminal mastermind who even the FBI can’t seem to bring down.
Maya sees something she very much shouldn’t have, and it means she has to run. FBI agent Riley appears at the local bar and tells her she needs to run, and he’ll help her.
A year later, having successfully laid low in Texas, some dangerous people turn up and she calls Riley for help. Now they’re on the run with both the FBI and the crime boss on their trail. Can things get any worse? Can Maya really trust Riley?
Gripping and full of moments of surprise, there are still questions Maya needs answers to, but first of all, she needs to stay alive and one step ahead of law enforcement and criminals.
I really liked Maya, she was genuinely in the wrong place at the wrong time – she doesn’t know who the victim was, or the killer. But that’s not enough it seems, and she has to go on the run, despite her innocence and ignorance. It’s only a mistake that puts her back into the sights of the people who want her dead. She has no choice but to trust Riley, and by extension his friend Amber, to help her, and they have their own agendas.
I enjoy Ava’s books, they’re fast paced and intelligent with interesting characters and compelling plots, and while this was very different from her Emma Makepeace books, it was very readable and I couldn’t put it down.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 